Hi guys,

Just a thought that popped into my head; times have moved forward from the days of GEC and AC and their simple numbering systems. Today we see more and more lanterns appearing from different European markets. The days of simple number and letter combinations seem to be long gone and lanterns today have their own names like Sapphire, Arc, Iridium etc. The question I have now is how do we pronounce some of the more unusual names? I suppose this could be down to personal preference or opinion but there must be a proper way to certain lantern names. A few examples I thought of are below.

Urbis 'Opalo' (perhaps Oh-pa-low, Oh-par-low, or 'Apollo'?)

Philips 'Iridium' (I as in investigate or I as in WiFi?)

Holophane 'Syracuse' (I'm not even going to attempt to pronounce this one...)

Varied opinions are always welcome

Jake, thanks for starting this thread. Lantern pronunciation is a contested area and is often discussed in person but rarely on the forums and if so, on an ad hoc basis. So this thread is a great idea!

I believe I've discussed with both member Inkubate and Mike Barford the pronunciation of Metal Halide. I've always pronounced it as "Metal Ha-lid" whereas they both pronounce it as "Metal Hay-lied." We also discussed the pronunciation of cosmopolis; inkubate favours "cos-MOP-olis" whereas Mike and I favour "cosmo-POLIS".  

I says SOX and GEC as "socks" and "geck" respectively, but I wonder who says them as "ess oh ex" and "gee ee see"?

How do people pronounce Phosco and ELECO? I say "Pho-so" (to rhyme with photo) but I think I've heard "phos-ko" before. I used to say "Eleck-oh" but I've changed my ways and now say "il-eek-oh"



I'm not certain about this one, but I say "Oh-pa-low".



It is "Ih-RID-ium" with stress on the second syllable. I as in investigate.



I say "sy-ra-queues"

Some from me:
Matal ha-lied ((metal halide))
cos-MOP-olis (like Metropolis) ((cosmopolis))
Oh-pah-lo ((opalo))
socks ((SOX)), but geee,eeee,seee ((GEC))
Phos-co ((phosco))
El-eck-co ((eleco)) - it only has one 'e' and so s short harsh sound would be produced and not a long 'eeeee' as you would expect from multiple e's

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My lantern pronunciations are, for metal halide, I pronounce this as met'al had-i-lie. For the Urbis Opalo, I announce this as Op-a-low. With SOX pronouced as socks. GEC, same as Chris (Gee-Eee-See). Likewise with Phosco, which I pronounce as fosko. Eleco > Elly-Co.

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From streetlighting to radio, dance through the night whilst the streetlights are glowing outside.

I say

Irid-ium
Seleen-ium
O-palo
Eleck-o
Geck (GEC)
Stee-la rather than Stella ( )
Modee-na etc etc.

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"I used to rule the world... Now I sweep the streets I used to own."
Remembering GEC.

Great topic and Alex covered my pronunciations very well. It is really personal preference in the end, but Iridium is in the dictionary with it being a metal and is pronounced:  i·rid·i·um (ih-rid-ee-uhm)

Same with Selenium as this is an element pronounced: se·le·ni·um (si-lee-nee-uhm)

Pretty sure we'd all get what you were talking about however it was said though.

I've always heard Halide as "hey-lahyd" (or " Hay-lied") - which will be familar to anyone who's studied chemistry.

All the best,
Simon

Yes, as Simon said the group of elements the halides is pronounced hay- lides. I normally just pronounce lanterns how they are spelt although with some modern lantern names this is made difficult.

1 year on...

Iridium - Ih-rid-e-um
Opalo - Oh-pay-low
GEC - Gee-Eee-Sea
SOX - Socks
Eleco - Ell-eh-co.
Thorn Beta - Th-awn Bee-tah
Thorn Riga - Th-awn Ree-gah
Phosco - Foss-co.
Libra - Leebra

Pronunciation doesn't need to be difficult, just say it is as you hear it in your head, or just go ahead and say it.

Mine's the same as that except for opalo - which for me is Ohh-pah-low (short sharp 'o')... that's how one of the Amey managers pronounced it and I've stuck with it ever since.

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